Slipper slap sends 95-year-old Daytona great-grandma to jail

Wednesday

DAYTONA BEACH — A 95-year-old great-grandmother called police for help after arguing with her defiant granddaughter.

It was that call, and her later admission to slapping the granddaughter in the face with a slipper, that got the elderly woman taken off to jail.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri admitted Hattie Reynolds probably wasn't a threat, but said domestic violence law requires that an arrest be made. The chief's point runs counter to the opinions of two local defense attorneys and Florida's domestic violence statue.

The slender grandma, listed at 5 feet tall in her arrest report, said in a call to dispatch Saturday morning that she was tired of her granddaughter staying in bed all day soaking up the air conditioning she pays to run. Calling the non-emergency number, she asked for police help.

"I got a gran in my bed and I can’t ... get her out from my bed," said Reynolds, calling from her home on Loomis Avenue. "I ain’t got nothing to pay bill on air condition all the time for her to go into the room."

Reynolds said she wanted her 46-year-old granddaughter, Janeen Williams, out of her room.

"She won’t get out of my bed. I want her out of the bed, I don’t want to get myself in trouble ... cause she don't listen after me," the great-grandmother said.

Reynolds called police after smacking her granddaughter in the face with her slipper.

"Hattie Reynolds said that Janeen Williams, her granddaughter would not get out of the bed and was screaming and swearing at her. (Hattie Reynolds) then began to start yelling and smacked (Janeen Williams) in the face with the shoes she had on," officers wrote in their report.

When police showed up at the home, the granddaughter told them she wasn't injured, didn't want to press charges and refused to give a statement.

But Reynolds told police about the slap.

What happened next comes from a short police report and court records. The interview and arrest were recorded on police body camera video, but Capri said his department would not release it because it's evidence in the case.

Police handcuffed the nonagenarian and took her to jail where she spent the night. She was booked and her mug shot taken like all other inmates. A judge released her on her own recognizance and after about 24 hours she was back home.

On Monday, she didn't seem to have much fight in her and didn't want to talk about her time in jail.

"Only my feet hurt and I need to sit," a soft-spoken Reynolds said when visited at home.

Capri said he felt bad about what happened to Reynolds but called domestic violence laws strict saying that even if victims press no charges, officers have no choice but to make an arrest.

"Under the law domestic violence is a very serious offense and officers' hands are tied," Capri said. "Discretion is taken away from them by the law."

According to Florida Statute 741.29 (3), police officers have the ability to determine if an arrest is needed in a domestic violence instance once probable cause is established.

"The officer may arrest the person or persons suspected of its commission and charge such person or persons with the appropriate crime," the law states.

Former prosecutor and now 25-year DeLand defense attorney Don Dempsey said Reynolds' arrest is unfortunate, especially in a misdemeanor offense.

"They don't have to make an arrest," Dempsey said. "They have the option to issue a notice to appear or make a complaint affidavit and forward that to the State Attorney's Office for a final decision."

Dempsey said he has represented many clients in domestic violence battery cases where they either got a notice to appear or were charged by affidavit.

"I'm not aware of any law that requires an arrest unless it is a department policy," Dempsey said.

Capri said things could have been done through common sense policing but officers didn't do anything wrong by following the law.

Capri also used a 2015 case as an example. An officer resigned after making mistakes during a domestic violence call involving a beachside husband and wife where no one went to jail. Johan Chiri later that night slashed throat of his wife, Milena Chiri. The couple's daughter called 9-1-1. Chiri was sentenced to life in prison.

[READ ABOUT THE JOHAN CHIRI MURDER CASE HERE]

Dempsey said cases like the Chiri's can play into how officers react.

"It's unfortunate that because one person does something egregious, they take away all our rights," Dempsey said. "I think it's taking away a lot of our liberty."

Capri said the officers did take extra care with Reynolds on Saturday.

"They were very polite and made sure she was as comfortable as possible," Capri said. "She was given time to change clothes and her hands were handcuffed in front of her instead of on her back."

Should she have been arrested?

"Probably not," Capri said. "I mean the lady was 95 years old. How much of threat could she be?"

"But officers followed the law. If your wife reported that you threatened to hit her, you would be arrested because that is domestic violence assault," Capri said. "I just feel bad for her but the officers did their job as required by the law."

Criminal defense attorney Aaron Delgado, who is also a Daytona Beach city commissioner, said in a phone interview that he did not believe that Florida law requires an officer to arrest someone in cases of domestic violence.

“I’ve heard that said and I know that there is a perception that if there is a domestic violence call someone needs to take a ride,” Delgado said. “That being said I think that officers could probably find an exception.”

He said an officer has the discretion to decide that a crime has not been committed.

Delgado said some law enforcement agencies may have a policy requiring an arrest in a domestic violence situation and that the department's attorney may interpret Florida law differently and advise a department to make arrest.

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